A MAN STABBED AT OKRIKA



As someone who was born in Rivers State, I know that Okrika and Ogu-Bolo are among the most deadly and violence-prone local government areas in the state. What happened to this guy, Charles Ekua, is just small if you know Okrika and considering the level of atrocities that are perpetrated there.
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Some Boko Haram Captured

 

Chadian military captured and killed many Boko Haram members this week in Gambaru, North East Nigeria...and some of them are very young boys. See the photos after the cut...

 
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CVIC ON D WAY TO GREATNESS

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                                BIRD THAT TURNED INTO A WOMAN

According to eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident in Lagos, the bird collided with an electric wire while going for operation and fell down, after which it changed into this middle aged woman. It was both a scary and a dramatic scene. Many could not stand to look at the strange woman. She was later taken away by police officer while in near-unconscious state. SEE THE VIDEO HERE



SEE THE VIDEO HERE
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Exposed: Asari Dokubo  in  Jet caught smuggling $9.3m?

Explain Asari Dokubo’s role in the $9.3m cash-for-arms scandal to Nigerians; APC tells Presidency
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to explain to Nigerians what Mujaheed Asari Dokubo, was doing on the plane that illegally ferried US$9.3 million to South Africa, where Asari Dokubo, another Nigerian and an Israeli were arrested, according to a published report.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said since the federal government has taken ownership of the funds by saying the National Security Adviser (NSA) issued the end-user certificate for the arms purchase, it stands to reason that the same government will know the involvement of all those aboard the plane.

APC said the questions become pertinent because even the NSA, who issued the end-user agreement for the purchase, does not and cannot purchase arms for any of the armed services. The Service Chiefs have separate budgets from the NSA for arms purchase:
"Under our Constitution, the NSA is an adviser and has no executive powers to deploy troops from any of the services or purchase arms for them. That the arms purported to be purchased from South Africa were ordered from the office of the NSA is nothing but a mere fabrication, and raises serious questions about the motive for the purchase. 
"Nigerians will therefore like to know on whose behalf Asari Dokubo was purchasing arms. This is very crucial because Asari Dokubo has been threatening that Nigeria will not know peace if his benefactor, President Jonathan, is not re-elected. Therefore, Nigerians will like to know whether he has started stockpiling arms to make his threat a reality, since elections are due in a few months’ time.
"If these arms are meant to fight insurgency, as the government has claimed, what is Asari Dokubo’s business purchasing arms for the Nigerian military, if indeed they were for the military? 
"Does it not occur to the Nigerian government that this man who once took arms against the state may not have jettisoned his sinister plan against the same state? Which country will ever allow a man who once carried arms against the state to now be purchasing arms for the same state? Even if it is true that he is purchasing the arms for the state, what prevents him from also using the opportunity to purchase arms for his own sinister motive? Could this be why Asari Dokubo has been talking publicly and confidently, without official censure, that President Jonathan must be re-elected or Nigeria will not know peace again?" the party queried.

"…on Tuesday, we again asked President Jonathan to come clean on the US$9.3 million and US$5.7 million deals. We also asked him to tell Nigerians the identity of the two Nigerians who were on the plane that illegally ferried money to South Africa. Now that the Nigerians are known, and they are the President’s men, the story has taken a new dimension,” it said.

APC said since those who claim to be fighting for Nigeria’s unity may actually be the ones working against it, since those who lay claim to patriotism may actually be any but patriotic, it is more urgent now, than ever, for the National Assembly to take these cash-for-arms deals seriously, instead of dismissing the concerns of Nigerians on the basis of some rules as the House of Representatives has glibly done.

The party commended the media for keeping the story alive and for working hard to unearth the identity of the Nigerians aboard the ill-fated plane that illegally flew money into another country in violation of that country’s laws and all known tenets of decency.

APC called on the media, in pursuance of its constitutional role of a watchdog, not to relent in exposing the circumstances surrounding the cash-for-arms deals, which have seriously embarrassed Nigeria in the comity of nations and which have the potential to threaten Nigeria’s unity, going by the latest revelations
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things-happening-inside-towns

Nigeria is close to perilous times, due to the activities of Boko Haram. Many people are crying out:
Musa Yakubu’s biggest worry was the safety of his septuagenarian uncle who has been trapped in the hilly Gwoza town in Borno since Boko Haram sacked the com­munity and declared it its territory.

“I am very worried about the safety of my un­cle. I’m not even sure he’s alive because the in­surgents may have killed him since he couldn’t flee with other residents,” he told Saturday Sun in Maiduguri.
Interestingly, Yakubu is not the only one that is disturbed about the condition of residents of Gwoza who are trapped in the town. Governor Kashim Shettima also said his biggest headache was the cruel fate that has befallen the residents.
“Our major concern now is about those who are still in Gwoza town, those who could not run away when the insurgents came. We don’t know what they are going through now. It is a difficult situation.”

Shettima lamented in an emotional speech while addressing thousands of displaced Gwoza residents at an Internally Displaced Per­sons (IDPs) camp at Madagali, Adamawa State.

The new Caliphate
Caliphate, according to some Islamic schol­ars, is an area under the control of a Caliph, be­lievably a successor of Prophet Mohammad as temporal and spiritual head of Islamic commu­nity. For Abubakar Shekau and his men of terror, the sleepy town of Gwoza is now a new Boko Haram republic since the attack on August 6. It appears unthinkable but Boko Haram has indeed declared the Gwoza town its new “Caliphate” nearly two weeks after the military pushed out the insurgents from Damboa where they report­edly hoisted their flags. A security source said Boko Haram left the town in ruins, describing the destruction at Damboa as massive and heart­broken. The source said the terrorists did not spare even streetlights. “Almost all the houses in the town were burnt; livestocks, public building, everything were destroyed. They finished Dam­boa”, the source disclosed.

A man, who appeared like Abubakar Shekau, leader of the sect in a video footage released last Sunday, claimed Allah has given them victory in Gwoza town. “Oh people, Allah has given us victory in the town of Gwoza. Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our members in Gwoza and made it part of our Islamic Caliphate,” he said in the video which has attracted outrage from some Islamic scholars who described the claim as unIslamic. Some residents of Maiduguri, who spoke to Saturday Sun, said the black sport utili­ty vehicles backed by the Boko Haram leader in the video footage may have been taken from the Gwoza Emir’s palace.

Saturday Sun gathered that the insurgents in­vaded Gwoza in a fit of rage. For a week, the whereabouts of the Emir, Alhaji Mohammed Timta was unknown until recently when it be­came clear the traditional ruler survived the ter­rorists invasion of his palace. Emir Mohammed succeeded his father, Idrissa Timta who was shot dead in May by Boko Haram. Residents claimed they have reported the rumoured plan by the in­surgents to raid Gwoza to the security forces but wondered why the terrorists were allowed to car­ry out the attack unhindered and thereafter took over the town. “We envisaged a serious attack on Gwoza by Boko Haram. We knew it was a mat­ter of time because of the way they have overrun all the communities in the area. They killed our people and forced us to flee our homes,” said John Goma, a Gwoza resident taking refuge in Maiduguri.

A police source said most of the trapped res­idents are either old men, women, children or those who were sick at the time of the attack. They feared some of the trapped women and teenage girls in Boko Haram “new caliphate” may have been sexually abused by the insurgents or turned to their cooks. “They may be harass­ing the old ones who are too weak to flee to give them information about the military or youth volunteers,” says another resident who preferred anonymity.

Expanded territory
Apart from Gwoza town, which is the local government headquarters, Boko Haram has since November 2013, annexed most communities in the area. First, they engaged the military at Pul­ka, a small settlement that connects the area with Gwoza, and subsequently proceeded to Attagara, Aganjara, Agapalawa, Chinene, Chikede, Gav­va, Amuda, Barawa and all the autonomous com­munities in the area. Hundreds of people were killed as about 3, 000 fled to different parts of the state as well as neighbouring Adamawa State. After the coordinated attacks on these communi­ties, Gwoza was just a fait accompli for the Boko Haram men, a resident of Maiduguri who did not want his name mentioned in the print, said.

With the entire Gwoza local government fallen into Boko Haram’s hand, the insurgents pushed further eastward to Gamboru/Ngala, a commer­cially thriving town at the Cameroon border to expand its supposed caliphate last Sunday in what analysts described as expansionist move. The move led to fierce battle with the security forces, a development which “saw the Nigerian troops charging through the Cameroon borders in a tactical maneuver,” according to military authority.

Madagali in Adamawa State where some dis­placed Gwoza persons are camped by the Nation­al Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has also been taken over by the insurgents. Mad­agali is the closest town to Gwoza.

As at press time, Gamboru is still under Boko Haram control as fleeing residents said the insur­gents were moving freely. A security source hint­ed that the military was making necessary plan to dislodge the insurgents from the area.

The fate of Buni Yadi, headquarters of Gujba Local Government Area, east of Yobe and about 35 kilomtres to capital Damaturu, is also precar­ious, some Damaturu residents said. The Boko Haramfighters, who are said to be present in the town since late July, are not in a hurry to leave. However, Moh’d Adams, a Damaturu resident whose relations are still in the town, said the in­surgents may have left the area. “A commercial driver in the area told me last week that a few residents have returned to Buni Yadi after Boko Haram left, though their houses and property have been destroyed,” he toldSaturday Sun on phone, adding: “There are no military presence in the area up till now.”

Catholic Church laments

The Maiduguri Diocese of the Catholic Church which covers Borno, Yobe and some parts of Ad­amawa states, said the church and its members have suffered greatly from incessant Boko Ha­ram attacks. “It is true that terrorists don’t have friends but it is abundantly clear that Christians are worst hit by Boko Haram insurgency,” Direc­tor of Social Communications, Rev. Fr Gideon Obasogie said.

He disclosed that “the whole Madagali town and Catholic parish rectory have been occupied by the terrorists, with many structures and items vandalized.” He said some of the worshippers in the area fled while others were not so lucky.

Why the military authority last week said it was declaring a total war on Boko Haram upon the receipt of technologically-driven weapons procured by the Federal Government, residents expressed the fear of worse attacks as the in­surgents are increasingly expand their control around the eastern and western parts of Borno and neighbouring Yobe State.
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